Our Golden Goats

Meet Eva and her twins Loki and Strega. They are the latest animals to join us at The Lint Mill and we’re so delighted to have them. The come from Avril Garrett’s beautiful Lisean Herd in Perthshire and they are on the Rare Breed Survival Trust’s ‘Watchlist’ of endangered and minority breeds.

The first reference to Golden Guernsey goats is in an island Guide Book of 1826, but it was not until the 1930s that Dr Tracey, a British Goat Society judge, noticed these outstanding golden goats and suggested to Miss Miriam Milbourne that she should revive this almost extinct breed.

Miriam set about this task with much enthusiasm, founding her L’Ancresse herd. The story goes that the breed was nearly wiped out during the Second World War when most livestock on Guernsey was slaughtered during the German occupation. Miss Miriam Milbourne risked her life to hide a small group of goats enabling the breed to survive. In 1970 due to Miss Milbourne’s ill health a Trust was set up to look after the remaining stock and out of this Trust the Golden Guernsey Goat Breed Society was formed.

This breed is smaller than other milking breeds and fine-boned. The coat can be long or short comes in all shades of gold from pale blonde like Loki to deep amber like Eva and Strega.

We are milking Eva every other day. Her milk has a high butterfat and protein content and so is good for making yoghurt and soft cheese.

The personality of this breed has been described as “very docile, very friendly” and we have found this to be more than true. They all love cuddles and our daily animal husbandry routine has been extended to include goat cuddling! They have become firm favourites with our guests who enjoy their calm, tame presence.